Arceneaux: Softball regular season ends this week

Softball’s regular season concludes this week with the state championship tournament in Sulphur a mere three weeks away.

Locally, the tournament should have a familiar look with Southwest Louisiana’s pair of two-time defending champions, Sam Houston
and Hackberry, looking like good bets to make it back.

The Broncos have gotten a big boost
with the return of Baylee Corbello to the pitching circle. The reigning
Miss Softball
had been limited to hitting for most of the season while
recovering from injury, but showed she regained her form with a
dominating
performance against traditional power Teurlings Catholic on
Friday, throwing an eight-inning complete game and striking out
17 batters in Sam Houston’s 2-1 win.

It was a big win for the Sam Houston, whose power ranking will be artificially low entering the playoffs due to a series of
nondistrict losses incurred while Corbello was unable to pitch. The Broncos are 13-9 as a result of the difficult non-district schedule, but does not reflect the quality of the team.

Thankfully for the Broncos, freshman Tanner Wright dominated District 3-5A foes, allowing the Broncos to win the district
outright. The lower power ranking may give the Broncos a higher degree of difficulty in making a return trip to Sulphur, but an in-form Corbello is capable of getting the Broncos back. In her first three seasons, Corbello is 14-1 in the postseason, pitching the Broncos into three consecutive championship
games and winning the past two 5A championships.

The Broncos have fiHTMLve returning starters with championship experience. They won’t be fazed by the big-game settings and will
have confidence taking the field behind the state’s top pitcher.

Hackberry is in a similar situation
with pitcher Jolie Trahan in the circle. The Mustangs also return the
core of their lineup,
including first-team all staters Sami Little and Mattie Stine.
Hackberry has been dominant throughout the season, rolling
to a 13-3 record, including 10 wins in their last 11 games. The
lone loss in that span was a 1-0 defeat to Sam Houston, and
the two earlier losses were to 1A teams South Cameron and Oak
Hill. The Mustangs sit atop the Class C power rankings and should
be the favorite to claim another title.

Grand Lake was upset in the regional
round of the Class B playoffs last season but has rebounded with another
strong season.
The Hornets are 12-5 and second in the power rankings. The Hornets
play only two district games but have played good competition
and has quality wins over Oberlin, Merryville, Hackberry and
Anacoco. The Hornets should be able to return to Sulphur, which
would be their seventh appearance since 2005.

In Class 2A, tournament regulars Rosepine and DeQuincy are both in the top eight in the power rankings, while Class 4A could
produce a pair of relatively new faces with DeRidder and St. Louis having strong seasons. The Dragons have never advanced
beyond the regional round while St. Louis last made it to Sulphur in 2008.